The Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) share price is edging higher on Monday.
In morning trade, the lithium developer's shares are up slightly to $3.00.
This is in line with the takeover offer tabled by Albemarle Corp (ASX: ALB) last month.
What's going on with the Liontown share price?
The Liontown share price is rising today amid news that Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has increased its stake again.
According to a change of interests of substantial holder notice, Rinehart has become Liontown's largest shareholder after increasing her holding from 14.67% to 16.69%.
But she may not stop there. In fact, based on what has been said, some of the buying today could be from Hancock Prospecting. For example, a media release late on Friday appears to show that Rinehart is interested in lifting her stake to the maximum allowed. It states:
Hancock is now Liontown's largest shareholder. Hancock welcomes the opportunity to participate in the Kathleen Valley project as a shareholder, and have an influence on the company's overall future direction – including where decisions are to be made by shareholders.
Hancock does not currently intend to put forward any director nominations at Liontown's upcoming Annual General Meeting. However, Hancock remains open to nominating directors to Liontown's board in the future and particularly if its Strategic Stake continues to increase towards 19.9%.
Why is this important?
This recent buying puts Hancock Prospecting in a very strong position to potentially block Albemarle's takeover proposal.
That's because a takeover requires a minimum of 75% of shares to be voted in its favour. If Rinehart can snap up 19.9%, it's very unlikely that a deal would be approved without Hancock's support.
What does remain unclear is whether Rinehart and Hancock Prospecting plan to just be shareholders or take Liontown private.
What else?
Back on 11 September, Liontown granted Albemarle due diligence for four weeks.
We are now on the final day of this four-week period, which means an update on the proposal is imminent. Stay tuned for that.
